Meet RiQ, A New Bot For STEM Education

RiQ the robot features a variety of sensors and an easy to use, drag-and-drop programming environment. Photo courtesy of PCS Edventures Lab.

STEM enthusiasts, rejoice! There’s a new bot designed for kids nine and up!

The wheeled robot, called RiQ, uses durable fischertechnikcomponents made of nylon and steel. With ultrasonic, infrared, light, and touch sensors, this new bot can perform of range of tricks. For example, kids can program RiQ to follow lines, avoid obstacles, or seek out the sunniest spot in the room. A pen holder turns RiQ into a doodle bot, too! LEDs add some flash.

Once kids have built their bot, they can program him using the PCS Cortex Programming Environment. Cortex is designed to make programming easy, with drag and drop commands that young coders can quickly fit together in sequence to create behaviors. With the included dongle, RiQ can be controlled Android and iOS devices, as well as any Bluetooth-enabled computer.

RiQ is made by PCS Edventures, a company that has been dedicated to STEM education since the mid-1980s. It features the fifth generation of the company’s PCS controller, which they’ve used with children for decades.